New Roles of Family/Church on Security

Family Security of lives and property is the collective responsibility of every citizen, if we must develop and foster a confident security culture. Every citizen of a country has a role to play in the security of lives and property.

No individual, family, or organization can single-handedly do so on behalf of others. Security is not the sole responsibility of law enforcement agencies, all hands must be on deck. To do this, all stakeholders must join hands with relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure a secure society.

Each individual, family, and community must report suspicious activities in their neighbourhoods to the appropriate security agencies to prevent crime and ensure everyone’s safety. For a country to be secure, every citizen needs to be security-conscious. Read more related posts on our family ministry page of the site.

1. THE FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY ON SECURITY

As Christians, we must be vigilant and boldly report every suspicious activity around our neighbourhood to the appropriate authorities. Every citizen must exhibit a high level of security awareness and alertness.

As it is commonly said, “Prevention is better than cure”, early detection of impending danger and prevention will help to provide a safe and enabling environment for people to live in.

Security of lives and properties must not be left in the hands of a single person or agency, it should be a collective responsibility. This month, we shall be discussing security issues and responsibilities of the family, Church, government, and God in securing believers.

It is evident that insecurity is taking its toll on the family more than any other institution, and it seems many families are not prepared for this.

Our lesson today focuses on the role of the family amidst growing insecurity. The lecture will address the effect of insecurity on the family and the responsibility of the family to curb it.

Insecurity and Its Causes

Insecurity refers to uncertainty about one’s safety. This has to do with mental, psychological, and physical threats. Threat to lives and property is due to many factors/causes that include:

• Lack of self-confidence-the need for people’s approval.
• Lack of trust/faith-when you doubt everyone.
• Refusal to accept a situation, people, or self as it is.
• Fear from past experiences of betrayal, denial, or abuse.
• Fear of failure when you desire to always succeed and impress people.

Other causes of insecurity about lives and property today stem from greed, covetousness, desire for power, and material possessions.

Unfortunately, with the growing number of out-of-school children and youths as well as joblessness, many people have taken to crime and criminality, thereby adding to threats to lives and property.

The Effects of Insecurity on the Family

The family is made up of a father, mother, and children, with or without other dependents. A situation whereby family members feel threatened and find it difficult to live their normal lives means that they are insecure.

As we know, insecurity leads to threats to lives and property. Some individuals or groups, for reasons best known to them, delight in destroying lives and taking the properties of other people.

The following are some of the ways the family is adversely affected by insecurity:

• When family members are kidnapped -payment of ransom makes the family either dispose of their assets or use their savings to secure the release of family member(s).
• Children can no longer attend schools where there is insecurity for fear of being kidnapped or raped, this has made some parents withdraw their children from schools and some children no longer have an interest in going to school.
• It is difficult to trust people due to fear of abuse or fear of playing into the hands of an informant to kidnappers.
• Some family members end up betraying one another because of money.

The roles of the church in security

Since the family is the nucleus of society, it is s crucial for each family to take up its God-given responsibility seriously and have a stable and secure society/country.

The following are suggested family roles/responsibilities in addressing insecurity:

• Parents should always trust in God and teach their children to do the same by dedicating their lives and properties to God for safekeeping.
• Parents should ensure that their children (wards)are educated properly, preferably in Christian schools where Christian virtues are taught and modelled. This will lead to a better, safer, and more stable society.
• Families should take time to discuss information shared on social media and other channels to help inform their family members of happenings around them and help children avoid posting information that could trigger insecurity.
• Families should disseminate information on those with criminal tendencies or actions; families should expose all forms of evil(Ephesians 5:11-12), by giving relevant information to security agencies.
• Family members should avoid staying out till late hours or night.
• Family members should be careful when going out with strangers, and going to unfamiliar places alone. They should endeavour to make their movements known to at least one family member.
• Family members should be calm in the face of insecurity and look for a way of escape.

The family

The family is the source from which the society takes its root. Children and adults learn responsibilities from home before they go out to the larger society to demonstrate it. An adage says, “Charity begins at home”.

Parents should inculcate moral virtues in their children so that when they go out, they will be good examples in society. Also, every member of the family must be security conscious. Insecurity is an ill wind that affects individuals and families.

2. THE CHURCH RESPONSIBILITY ON SECURITY

The activities of recent times reveal that the Church in Nigeria has become a target of attack considering the wanton destruction of lives and property of Christians these days.

Discuss why the church is the target of attack. Families make up the church, and Christians have always been the targets of the Devil. For example, Job (Job 1:13-19); Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego (Daniel 3:16-22); and Stephen(Acts 7:55-60), to destroy the Church.

Today’s discussion will provide answers to some questions that will help us appreciate the role of the Church in the face of growing insecurity.

What is the Mission and Goal of the Church?

The church is made up of God’s people who are redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and saddled with the mandate of preaching the good news and making disciples of all people.

The Church has the special role of guiding society into all truth and influencing society positively. The Church is instrumental in social change by providing a moral guide for nation-building. If the church is to fulfil its mission and achieve its goal, it will always be at loggerheads with Satan and his agents (Revelation 2:9-11;14:12-13).

How Does Insecurity Affect the Church?

Since insecurity affects lives and property, and the Church is made up of individual members and families who have properties, a great impact on individuals and families. Over the years, many church members have been attacked, killed, or kidnapped, and properties looted or destroyed.

Some who escape attacks and kidnappings end up in Internally Displaced People’s Camps. Some of these churches had to close, and their members scattered.

This spate of insecurity has adversely affected local churches, organizations, and denominations, thereby reducing membership and weakening denominations financially and spiritually.

What Role Should the Church Play in Curbing Insecurity?

The Church has a great role to play in curbing insecurity in our country. As people are killed, maimed, kidnapped, and displaced regularly, some people are gradually becoming hopeless. The Church needs to do some of the following to give hope in a seemingly hopeless situation:

• Teach the truth about the nature of the Christian faith, and emphasize Christ’s message of love to one’s neighbors, regardless of faith and ethnicity.
• Create awareness for church members, using experts/security agents. The church can organize seminars/workshops periodically to help members become security conscious and how they can help security agents secure their environment.
• The Church needs to work with the community leadership to mobilize and support community vigilante efforts. Community efforts can be very effective in curbing insecurity, as the government cannot do it alone.
• The Church should form a security committee for intelligence gathering and raising young people who will work with those who know security, this will help in the area of surveillance (Nehemiah 4:15-23).
• The Church must not relent in calling the attention of the government to its responsibility of fairness to various interest groups; and address injustice and oppression.
• The Church should seek peace at all costs by forgiving those who wrong them and seeking the good of others.
• The Church should collaborate with the state in tackling religious intolerance and stemming the attendant social insecurity.
• The Church should assist or join hands with the government to alleviate suffering and other conditions that predispose people to resort to self-help, thereby undermining security.

Conclusion

Since family is the foundation of society, each family should ensure that their members contribute to maintaining peace in the community.

Family heads are encouraged to lead their families to be supportive of societal and government efforts in eradicating all forms of insecurity, especially banditry and kidnapping. In all that we do, the church should know that the ultimate security of lives and property is in the hands of God.